Auto notebook: Edwards captures messy race

Carl Edwards’ hard push to the finish line was slowed only by the caution flag.

Edwards had the car to beat under green – even if it was only a few laps at a time – and that was enough to win the wreck-filled Busch Series race at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del., on Saturday.

“You can’t lose a race with a car that good,” Edwards said. “It worked out. It was great.”

Edwards, who passed Matt Kenseth with 13 laps left in the Dover 200, extended his overall points lead and won for the third time this season. He popped his head out of the window, pumped his fist to the crowd and nailed his trademark backflip, making a clean landing on the concrete.

If only the rest of the race was as smooth.

Almost from the start, the race was a mess, with no more than a handful of laps being completed before the caution came out after another accident. The spinning, smoking and sliding kept happening until the end, with the 10th caution flag waving with eight laps to go.

The 11th and final caution came on the final lap.

It seemed all the accidents would help Kenseth after he stayed on the track late and opted not to change his tires when all the front-runners pitted.

Even with all those flags slowing the action, Kenseth couldn’t keep up with Edwards, Denny Hamlin and Scott Wimmer, who all had fresh tires.

Hamlin, the pole-sitter, finished second. Wimmer was third.

“We knew we were running for second after about lap 100,” Hamlin said.

Edwards has a knack for winning Busch races on concrete, with victories this year at Bristol and Nashville – and now Dover.

Call him the Concrete Conqueror.

“They just outclassed us today,” Hamlin said.

If Edwards was back in his hometown of Columbia, Mo., he might have celebrated with a slice from Shakespeare’s Pizza. Taking home that “Monster” trophy was good enough on this night.

“I had a pretty good feeling,” Edwards said. “I thought if we got this thing right it was going to be a rocket ship.”

Edwards, who started eighth, kept attacking Kenseth and finally zipped by him in the waning laps. Much as he was doing earlier in the race when he was out in front as part of his race-high 122 laps led, Edwards was cruising and simply pulled away.

Casey Mears and Kenseth rounded out the top five.

IndyCar

If the races were as easy as qualifying has been this season for Helio Castroneves, he’d be running away in the IndyCar Series points.

The Brazilian, coming off a third-place finish last Sunday in the Indianapolis 500, won his fourth pole in six tries this season and the 20th of his career in time trials for the ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt 225 at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wis.

“I love going fast, man,” the grinning Castroneves said when asked about his qualifying prowess.

He turned a fast lap of 171.071 mph, considerably faster than runner-up Scott Dixon’s 169.266.

“That’s two-tenths (of a second) faster in qualifying, but it won’t be such a big gap in the race,” Castroneves said, shrugging. “It’s going to be a real competitive race.”

Dixon goes into today’s race holding a one-point lead over Target Chip Ganassi teammate Dan Wheldon, a three-point edge on Indy winner Dario Franchitti and 13 on Castroneves.